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Research teams collaborate on the next-gen vertical-lift aircraft
BY KEVIN McCANEY
Army researchers are working on
the next generation of military
vertical-lift aircraft with an
effort that involves the collaboration
of the service’s research centers and
laboratories, design and manufacturing
work from industry, and support from
NASA and the Navy.
The idea is to draw on the expertise
from around the Army’s science and
technology community to build a new
fleet of aircraft that can take off, hover
and land like a helicopter, fly like a
plane, and be used by joint forces.
“The one thing that we’ve not done in
quite a long time was demonstrate that
we can build an aircraft from scratch
that incorporates the individual tech-
nologies that we’ve been working on
the past 25 years,” Ned Chase, deputy
program director of S&T for the Joint
Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator/
Future Vertical Lift, said in a release.
“We have the capacity across AMRDEC
to populate the aircraft with the right
components--engines, rotors, struc-
tures, flight controls.
AMRDEC is the Aviation and Missile
Research, Development and Engineer-
ing Center, one of seven centers and labs
that make up the Army’s Research, De-
velopment and Engineering Command.
While AMRDEC, where Chase works,
will focus on aviation, scientists at other
centers will contribute their expertise.
The Communications-Electronics Re-
search, Development and Engineering
Center, for example, can perform work
in communications systems, sensors
and cameras.
The Future Vertical Life, or FVL, pro-
gram is expected to culminate in two
main demonstrations. One, the Air Ve-
hicle Demonstration, will be carried out
with two contractor teams, Sikorsky/
Boeing and Bell Helicopter, which will
handle the design, analysis, fabrication,
ground testing and flight testing of the
demonstrator aircraft.
The aircraft, according to industry
proposals, will be able to carry and crew
of four plus 12 troops, hover at up to
6,000 feet (at 95 degrees Fahrenheit)
and travel at a speed of at least 230 knots
for 2,100 nautical miles. The first flight
testing is expected in summer 2017,
with a prototype expected between
2022 and 2024.
The other demonstration, the Mis-
sion Systems Architecture Demonstra-
tion, intends to integrate technologies
from across the Army’s research centers
into a standard reference architecture
that will serve as the foundation for an
avionics architecture for a joint fleet,
which researchers noted would save
money over developing separate aircraft
for each service.
Although many of the technologies
exist, they need to be honed to perform
in what researchers said will be a tough-
er environment than those technologies
operate in now. “This future fleet will be
faster and go farther,” Chase said. “We’re
trying to ensure that the other [research
centers] understand how the aviation
environment and constraints change
when we go from flying aircraft at 130
knots to 250 knots. The environment
we’re creating for weapons, sensors and
radios is much different with FVL than
the current fleet. FVL will operate in a
different performance regime.” n
A peek at the future
of military aircraft
An artist’s concept of a future Army vertical lift rotorcraft.
BATTLESPACE
TECH
18 MARCH/APRIL 2015 | DefenseSystems.com
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